Report from Tues. Sept. 18th Council Meeting - Saturday, September 22, 2007

Council Moves Ahead on Agreement with Developer



I regret to report that the Council is moving ahead with a partnership agreement with the developer, Landmark Atlantic. The Council had its first reading on Tuesday and it will come for a final vote on October 2nd.



I raised what I thought were a bunch of good questions: 1) If the other developer, Bob Holland, has bought all the properties, what does the agreement get us? 2) Will we be involved in a lot of legal costs in setting up this agreement? 3) Why don’t we just hire a development consultant who will work with the city as opposed to working with a developer who has his own agenda? 4) And lastly, why doesn’t the Council just hear from Holland about what he wants to do with the property?



I do not feel I got adequate responses to any of the questions.



Meanwhile…



Community Meeting with Bob Holland on his plans to Develop 3200 Block of Rhode Island Ave.

Tuesday, Sept. 25th from 6:30-7:30pm



Bob and Memphis Holland, the developers that have the property rights to several parcels of land on the 3200 block of Rhode Island Avenue in Mount Rainier, will be holding a public meeting at H&F Fine Arts, located at 3311 Rhode Island Ave.



This is an opportunity for the community to meet with them, hear about their development plans and discuss our own vision for the area.



This is not meant to be a political happening, rather an opening for the community to be part of a plan that may be moving ahead in the near future.



I did not organize the meeting but do plan to be there to see what Holland has to say and hear what residents think about his plans. Let me emphasize I am not for or against Holland’s plans, but feel we should hear him out.



Corn Bin Moving Ahead



The Council had a first reading on the resolution to approve the placing of the corn bin in the back of the lot at 3601 Bunker Hill Road. (I discussed this in some detail in my last report) The resolution will go for a final vote on October 2nd.



Plans to renovate 3409 Rhode Island Ave. (library building)



The Council put on its October 2nd agenda a proposal to send out a request for proposal (RFP) to renovate this building. Councilman Knedler has been drafting the RFP and we hope to have a final RFP approved and send it out to interested developers after the October 2nd meeting. The objectives stated in the RFP are to demolish the existing building, provide space for a county operated public library, have space for a community room, have space on the upper floors to be leased out as an income source to the city, and incorporate green building features into the building’s design and operation.



There will be a number of public meetings before any plans are finalized or moneys spent on developing this property.



Translating Parts of the Mt. Rainier Message



The Council agreed to have the Message (at least part) translated into Spanish and sent out to residents in the community. There are many residents in the community who do not read English and do not know about some of the town’s activities and many of the town’s rules and regulations. I think it is a good move and hope to see something sent out in Spanish by the end of the year.



Town is In the Black



After many years of fiscal worries, the unaudited financial report from the last fiscal year (ending 6/30/07) showed a balance of $1 million. Although this balance goes down in the months of July, August and September because additional tax revenues don’t come to the town of?? October, the balance is still $500,000 over what it was in 2006. While I don’t feel we should carelessly spend down the balance, I believe that if these reserves continue through next spring, the Council should look at using some of the reserves for needed infrastructure improvements or tax relief. I believe it is important to let everybody know about the fiscal shape of our town and so will be reporting periodically on the town’s balance sheet.



Another Closed Meeting



The Council voted again to go into a closed session, which I opposed.



The Open Meetings Act states: “It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that, except in special and appropriate circumstances public business be performed in an open and public manner and citizens be allowed to observe the performance of public officials and the deliberations and decisions that the making of public policy involves.”



While the Open Meetings Act does state that the Council may (not "should" or "shall") meet in closed session to “consider the acquisition of real property”, the act also states that the law shall be “strictly construed in favor of open meetings.”



On Tuesday, I had no objection to the Council having a closed session on the evaluation of the City Manager but did oppose closing the meeting for the discussion of property acquisition involved with parking and with the expansion of public works.



My reasoning was that there are public discussions sponsored by the Gateway CDC on parking and having a closed meeting will make it more difficult to have all the information at the public discussion. Also I had residents in the area of the public works ask me what was going to be discussed (since it was announced on the agenda) and I feel that our residents should know as much as possible about the town’s plans to acquire property in their neighborhoods.